It's hard to describe the experience of visiting Machu Picchu. People who've visited like to call it "breathtaking."
Ben Gilbert / Business Insider
This is a real photo I took in real life standing at Machu Picchu in late March 2017.
While cliché, it's not inaccurate. How often are you standing on an Andean peak, walking through thousand-year-old ruins, looking down on the clouds?
For Indiana Jones, perhaps the feeling is common. For the average person like myself, the feeling is momentous. Visiting Machu Picchu evoked the kind of awe that my childhood brain produced regularly - the kind of awe that's since faded from my daily life.
Perhaps best of all, visiting Machu Picchu means dedication. Even if you live nearby, you have to really want to visit Machu Picchu. Even if you take a bus to the main entrance, you still have to work pretty hard to just traverse the grounds. Here's what that experience is like, first-hand, based on my visit in late March 2017.